Kobe Bryant Writes Open letter to His Younger Self: Investing in People is the Most Important Thing

Photo credit: performancegroup0September 21, 2017By Dang

Kobe Bryant Writes Open letter to His Younger Self: Investing in People is the Most Important Thing

“Dear 17-year-old self, When your Laker dream comes true tomorrow, you need to figure out a way to invest in the future of your family and friends. This sounds simple, and you may think it’s a no-brainer, but take some time to think on it further

I said INVEST

I did not say GIVE

Let me explain

Purely giving material things to your siblings and friends may appear to be the right decision. You love them, and they were always there for you growing up, so it’s only right that they should share in your success and all that comes with it. So you buy them a car, a big house, pay all of their bills. You want them to live a beautiful, comfortable life, right?

But the day will come when you realize that as much as you believed you were doing the right thing, you were actually holding them back

You will come to understand that you were taking care of them because it made YOU feel good, it made YOU happy to see them smiling – and that was extremely selfish of you

While you were feeling satisfied with yourself, you were slowly eating away at their own dreams and ambitions. You were adding material things to their lives, but subtracting the most precious gifts of all: independence and growth.” – Kobe Bryant